NASA Astronaut Shares Breathtaking Video Of Earth From Space

NASA astronaut Victor Glover, who recently travelled to the International Space Station, took to Twitter on Wednesday to share a breathtaking view of the Earth from space. His first video from space offers a stunning view of the Blue Planet and, according to the astronaut, it doesn't do justice to the real thing. 
 

NASA's SOFIA Discovers Water On Sunlit Surface Of Moon

There may be far more water on the Moon than previously thought, according to two studies published Monday raising the tantalising prospect that astronauts on future space missions could find refreshment -- and maybe even fuel -- on the lunar surface.

The Moon was believed to be bone dry until around a decade ago when a series of findings suggested that our nearest celestial neighbour has traces of water trapped in the surface.

Two new studies published in Nature Astronomy on Monday suggest there could be much more water than previously thought, including ice stored in permanently shadowed "cold traps" at lunar polar regions.

 

Asteroid, The Size Of An Airliner, May Collide With Earth's Orbit: NASA

The latest asteroid visiting the Earth's neighbourhood is within two weeks of the last one on September 24, when it zoomed past Earth at a distance of about 13,000 miles above our planet's surface.

An asteroid is likely to cross the Earth's orbit on Wednesday. NASA's asteroid monitoring centre has said that 2020 RK2 - an asteroid - is likely to cross the Earth's orbit but it will be about 2,380,000 miles away from our planet. The space research agency believes the asteroid is unlikely to cause any damage.

 

Second Alignment Plane Of Solar System Discovered

 

A study of comet motions indicates that the solar system has a second alignment plane. Analytical investigation of the orbits of long-period comets shows that the aphelia of the comets, the point where they are farthest from the Sun, tend to fall close to either the well-known ecliptic plane where the planets reside or a newly discovered 'empty ecliptic.'

This has important implications for models of how comets originally formed in the solar system.

 

Massive Ozone Hole Over Arctic Now Closed: UN

Ozone depletion over the Arctic hit a "record level" in March, the biggest since 2011, but the hole has now closed, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday.

Fifth Largest Piece Of Moon Goes For Sale At $2.5 Million

The moon rock, weighing over 13.5 kg, was probably struck off the surface of the moon by a collision with an asteroid or comet and then showered down on the Sahara desert.

Have We Found The New Earth? This New Planet Has The Right Conditions to Hold Water

Usng re-analysed data from NASAs Kepler space telescope, a team of scientists has discovered an Earth-size exoplanet orbiting in its star's habitable zone, the area around a star where a rocky planet could support liquid water. Out of all the exoplanets found by Kepler, this distant world -- located 300 light-years from Earth -- is most similar to Earth in size and estimated temperature, according to a study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. This newly revealed world is only 1.06 times larger than our own planet. Also, the amount of starlight it receives from its host star is 75 per cent of the amount of light Earth receives from our Sun -- meaning the exoplanet's temperature may be similar to our planet's, as well.

The Earth Has a Second Moon, And No One Noticed All This While

Researchers have discovered that an object, now dubbed 2020 CD3, has been gravitationally bound to earth for about three years now. And it is only now that we have discovered it. It was on February 19 that astronomers at the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona spotted a dim object moving quickly across the sky somewhere close to earth. The same object was then observed by researchers at six more observatories around the world who confirmed the presence of what can now be considered a minimoon. The researchers say the new and perhaps temporary minimoon is probably between 1.9 meters and 3.5 metres across, which is around the same size as a mid-size car.

Astronomers say that the new minimoon orbit isn’t stable, and the 2020 CD3 could eventually catapult itself away from Earth. “It is heading away from the Earth-moon system as we speak,” says Grigori Fedorets at Queen’s University Belfast in the UK, told the New Scientist. Incidentally, this isn’t the first-time earth has had an additional moon, albeit temporarily. In 2006, the 2006 RH120 remained within the earth’s gravitational pull between September 2006 and June 2007 before it managed to wriggle free. Chances are, this minimoon will too.

Earth-Sized World Found In "Habitable Zone" By NASA Planet Hunter

The planet, named "TOI 700 d", is relatively close to Earth- only 100 light years away, NASA announced during the annual American Astronomical Society meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe Reveals "New And Surprising" Solar Mystery

NASA's Parker Solar Probe, which has flown closer to the Sun than any spacecraft ever, has beamed back the first observations from its close encounters with the Sun, revealing a 'spectacular trove' of data about the solar wind and space weather, reported the US space agency. The data from the probe, published in the journal Nature, offers clues to long-standing mysteries, including why the Sun's atmosphere, known as the corona, is hundreds of times hotter than its surface, as well as the precise origins of the solar wind.

US Scientist Claims Photos Show Evidence Of Life On Mars

Professor Emeritus William Romoser's research found numerous examples of insect-like forms, structured similarly to bees, as well as reptile-like forms, both as fossils and living creatures

3 Giant Black Holes On The Path To Collision, Captured In Rare Discovery

Three galaxies are on the course to collision, along with the giant black holes at the centre of each of them, a new study found. This has been spotted by astronomers at NASA for the first time. The phenomenon is taking place a billion light years away from Earth in a system is known as SDSS J084905.51+111447.2 (SDSS J0849+1114 for short).

Newfound Comet Likely An "Interstellar" Visitor, Say Scientists

The trajectory of the comet follows a highly curved path barreling in the sun's direction at unusually high speeds, evidence that it originated beyond the solar system.

NASA TESS Discovers Super Earth That Could Have Life, And it is 31 Light Years Away

Scientists have characterised the first potentially habitable world outside our own solar system located about 31 light-years away. The super-Earth planet — named GJ 357 d — was discovered in early 2019 owing to NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a mission designed to comb the heavens for exoplanets, according to the research published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. GJ 357 d, a super-Earth, could provide Earth-like conditions and orbits the dwarf star every 55.7 days at a distance about one-fifth of Earth's distance from the sun

Suspected meteorite crashes into rice field in India

A suspected meteorite about the size of a football has crashed into a paddy field in a village in eastern India.Villagers and farmers pose around the crater of a suspected meteorite that crashed in a field at Mahadeva village in the Indian eastern state of Bihar.

Black Hole Mystery Dating Back 40 Years Solved By "Best Ever" Simulation

Scientists on Thursday unveiled the most detailed simulation of a black hole yet, solving a mystery dating back more than four decades over how the star-devouring monsters consume matter. Coming fresh on the heels of the first ever photo of one of the giant objects, which are scattered across the Universe, astrophysicists are now several steps closer to understanding how they form and develop.A team of astrophysicists from Northwestern University, Oxford University, and the University of Amsterdam, used graphical processing units to crunch large sets of data and simulate how black holes interact with their accretion disks.

Scientists Are Preparing For An Asteroid Hit That Could Wipe Out Humanity

New calculations suggested there was a 10 percent chance that an asteroid named 2019 PDC would strike Earth in eight years, unleashing enough energy to level a whole city.

Supermassive Black Hole Image Captured For First Time

The black hole image shows the boundary between light and dark around a black hole, called the event horizon - the point of no return, where the gravity of the black hole becomes so extreme that nothing that enters can ever escape.

Sun's Magnetic Field Is 10 Times Stronger Than Previously Believed: Study

The study found that the sun's corona extends millions of kilometres above the surface, 109 times larger than Earth.The sun's magnetic field is 10 times stronger than previously believed, finds a study which can potentially change understanding of the processes that happen in the sun's immediate atmosphere.

"Illuminating, Fascinating": NASA To Make Closest Approach To Sun Soon.

Just 161 days after its launch, NASA's Parker Solar Probe has completed its first orbit of the Sun and has now begun the second of 24 planned orbits, which will mark its closest approach to the Sun in April, the US space agency has said. NASA's Parker Solar Probe will journey steadily closer to the Sun, until it makes its closest approach at 3.8 million miles.